WEBVTT 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:08.300 The book of Acts, chapter 26, verse 28 and 29. 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:13.419 And it is very familiar. I'm not going to be 00:00:13.419 --> 00:00:15.560 speaking on something that you probably have 00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:19.379 not heard of or preached or shared yourselves. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:23.280 But I just want to come with a with a refreshed 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:27.339 thought on this. And hopefully it'll be a blessing 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:31.239 to somebody. Praise God. This is what we want 00:00:31.239 --> 00:00:34.320 to do, encourage somebody here today. Acts 26 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:40.439 and 28 says, Then Agrippa said to Paul, You almost 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:45.340 persuade me to become a Christian. And Paul said, 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:52.200 I would to God that not only you, but also all 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:59.049 who hear me today might become both almost. and 00:00:59.049 --> 00:01:04.150 altogether such as I am, except for these chains. 00:01:05.950 --> 00:01:12.290 And it's a very simple title for today's message. 00:01:13.170 --> 00:01:15.909 Like I said, you've probably seen this and heard 00:01:15.909 --> 00:01:19.069 it many times. I'm going to do the same and title 00:01:19.069 --> 00:01:23.090 it, Almost. Somebody say, Almost. All right, 00:01:23.269 --> 00:01:26.730 so now we're going to ask you to go around and 00:01:26.730 --> 00:01:30.909 greet somebody. Welcome them and tell them almost. 00:01:33.409 --> 00:01:36.109 Praise God. Greet somebody in the name of the 00:01:36.109 --> 00:01:39.989 Lord. Almost, Brother Tony. Almost, Brother. 00:01:41.209 --> 00:01:48.250 Hallelujah. Almost. Amen, amen, amen. God bless 00:01:48.250 --> 00:01:55.370 you, Brother. Amen. God is good. Hallelujah, 00:01:55.530 --> 00:02:05.989 hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank 00:02:05.989 --> 00:02:11.830 you, Jesus. Good to see all of you here today. 00:02:14.409 --> 00:02:17.110 Keeping in prayer those that were unable to be 00:02:17.110 --> 00:02:20.270 here. There was some sickness going around this 00:02:20.270 --> 00:02:23.310 week, but thank God there's victory in the house. 00:02:23.689 --> 00:02:27.370 Healing happened. Praise God. God bless you. 00:02:27.389 --> 00:02:29.150 You may take your places. Thank you so much. 00:02:33.740 --> 00:02:43.819 The term almost is not so frequently used in 00:02:43.819 --> 00:02:49.360 the Bible, but its implications are significant 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:55.020 in understanding the nature of decision -making, 00:02:55.080 --> 00:03:00.199 commitments, and the consequences of hesitation. 00:03:01.610 --> 00:03:06.770 and spiritual matters. We know that our Christian 00:03:06.770 --> 00:03:11.990 walk is a life of decisions. It is a life of 00:03:11.990 --> 00:03:18.449 moving forward and attempting to live in God's 00:03:18.449 --> 00:03:25.509 will and purpose. The term almost carries a sense 00:03:25.509 --> 00:03:32.099 of a missed opportunity. an incomplete commitment, 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:38.020 and a constant reminder of the importance of 00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:44.139 decisive action, decision -making, and the dangers 00:03:44.139 --> 00:03:50.759 of complacency. This famous phrase of almost 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:54.680 comes from the scripture that we just finished 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:59.960 reading of this King Agrippa that Paul stood 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:07.840 before, and only in defense of himself and for 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:13.580 the gospel, the Apostle Paul had to explain where 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:18.620 he was coming from and his purpose. And at the 00:04:18.620 --> 00:04:22.560 end of all of this, the king says that he had 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:27.220 no reason to incarcerate or pursue any kind of 00:04:27.220 --> 00:04:32.629 trouble towards Paul. But because he had attempted 00:04:32.629 --> 00:04:37.829 to appeal to Caesar, then he had to pursue or 00:04:37.829 --> 00:04:45.089 continue with the sessions of legalities against 00:04:45.089 --> 00:04:53.490 Paul. But it's obvious and it's a strange but 00:04:53.490 --> 00:04:59.839 very... very surprising that somebody that is 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:05.160 about to judge someone is, I don't know if you've 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:08.839 ever been in a courtroom where the accusations 00:05:08.839 --> 00:05:13.420 are strongly against someone and when the defense 00:05:13.420 --> 00:05:20.120 begins to explain their reasons that even the... 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:24.819 The judge would say, hey, you almost convinced 00:05:24.819 --> 00:05:31.120 me. You almost convinced me. And I believe that 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:34.759 the Apostle Paul had that gift of persuasion 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:40.139 and also of defense of the gospel. Have you ever 00:05:40.139 --> 00:05:44.660 used the phrase, almost home? Have you ever used 00:05:44.660 --> 00:05:48.199 that phrase, almost home? If you're driving... 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:52.420 Let me share, you know, if you're a driver or 00:05:52.420 --> 00:05:56.620 whatever, but let me share some statistics about 00:05:56.620 --> 00:06:03.500 almost home. 25 % of automobile accidents happen 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:09.459 within one mile of home. One mile. 25 % of all 00:06:09.459 --> 00:06:13.300 the accidents happen within one mile of home. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:20.310 And 75 % of accidents happen within... five miles 00:06:20.310 --> 00:06:26.430 of home. That is a very high percentage of accidents 00:06:26.430 --> 00:06:33.649 that happen when you're almost home. And I want 00:06:33.649 --> 00:06:38.389 to bring this out because almost home is altogether 00:06:38.389 --> 00:06:42.990 not home. You hear what I'm saying? Almost home. 00:06:42.990 --> 00:06:46.129 I'm almost there, but you're not there. Praise 00:06:46.129 --> 00:06:49.490 God. That's easy to comprehend, and it's easy 00:06:49.490 --> 00:06:54.529 to digest in our minds and our hearts, but you're 00:06:54.529 --> 00:06:59.990 not. It's like a runner that got second prize. 00:07:00.209 --> 00:07:03.649 He almost crossed the line first, but he did 00:07:03.649 --> 00:07:07.329 not. And there's a big difference in that because 00:07:07.329 --> 00:07:10.269 only one gets the prize. I almost beat him in 00:07:10.269 --> 00:07:13.050 the ring. Well, you're the one that fell. You 00:07:13.050 --> 00:07:15.870 know, and you're the one that got knocked out. 00:07:15.970 --> 00:07:20.970 And, you know, to almost, almost is an extreme. 00:07:21.069 --> 00:07:25.689 It's like an eternity in almost. It's almost 00:07:25.689 --> 00:07:29.970 like eternity is hinged in it because it just 00:07:29.970 --> 00:07:33.470 didn't happen. And it's not happening. In the 00:07:33.470 --> 00:07:39.009 sense of spirituality, almost making the rapture 00:07:39.009 --> 00:07:43.139 of the church is altogether not making it. I 00:07:43.139 --> 00:07:45.560 mean, I don't want to be the one that stays behind 00:07:45.560 --> 00:07:49.980 to tell everybody, I almost made the rapture. 00:07:51.660 --> 00:07:56.199 What good would that do for anybody that almost 00:07:56.199 --> 00:07:59.360 made the rapture? It doesn't mean nothing at 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:02.259 that time because you're categorized with everybody 00:08:02.259 --> 00:08:06.439 that did not. Praise God. Unfortunately, there's 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:09.279 a lot of people that think they're going to be 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:16.410 there or whatever. God help us. Nobody, and I 00:08:16.410 --> 00:08:21.930 hope not, amen, would marry somebody that admits 00:08:21.930 --> 00:08:28.589 at the wedding altar, I almost love you. Almost 00:08:28.589 --> 00:08:36.549 love you. Or not almost, you know, I almost commit 00:08:36.549 --> 00:08:41.120 to be faithful to you in the vows. Wait a minute. 00:08:41.220 --> 00:08:43.519 Whoa, time out right here. What are you talking 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:46.159 about? Almost. Either you're all in or you're 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:47.940 all out. What are you going to do? You know, 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:51.960 and so it seems like the phrase almost could 00:08:51.960 --> 00:08:55.500 have a lot of implications. And we don't like 00:08:55.500 --> 00:09:01.360 almost. You almost got the promotion. But you 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:04.139 gave it. You almost got it. Why don't you just 00:09:04.139 --> 00:09:07.320 run around the office here and leap for joy because 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:10.980 you almost got the promotion. I'm not going to 00:09:10.980 --> 00:09:13.600 celebrate anything that has to do with almost. 00:09:14.340 --> 00:09:16.899 Because almost is not something we celebrate. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:20.019 I said that almost is not something that I'm 00:09:20.019 --> 00:09:22.879 going to leap up for joy and say, my God, why 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:27.440 are you jumping? I almost. No, it doesn't mean 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:31.990 nothing. Almost is altogether not. You hear what 00:09:31.990 --> 00:09:35.889 I'm saying? So in reality, almost, amen, there's 00:09:35.889 --> 00:09:40.029 an eternity. Amen. After that, we can easily 00:09:40.029 --> 00:09:45.490 process almost when it directly affects us in 00:09:45.490 --> 00:09:49.830 the natural human sense. But what about our spirituality? 00:09:51.509 --> 00:09:55.970 Jesus asked Peter three times, do you love me? 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:03.000 In John 21, he asked Peter, Peter, do you love 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:07.399 me? Peter became frustrated because the Lord 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:12.259 asked him three times. But Peter responded in 00:10:12.259 --> 00:10:16.840 a way of what is called filial love, which is 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:22.919 brotherly kind of love. His response was a filial 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:26.500 love. But the Lord was waiting. For Peter to 00:10:26.500 --> 00:10:32.159 respond with what he knows as agape love, which 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:35.480 is unconditional. You see, there's even levels 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:38.480 of love. And the Lord has separated. He says 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:41.759 agape love is what he wants from a wife because 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:45.080 it's unconditional. It's an unconditional love 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:47.480 that we have. We don't have brotherly love with 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:51.000 Christ. We have agape love with Christ because 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:54.519 it's unconditional. You're all in. You're all 00:10:54.519 --> 00:10:59.100 in. God knows the difference between almost and 00:10:59.100 --> 00:11:03.659 filial love and altogether agape love. Praise 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:06.100 God. And he's the only one. I don't know what 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:10.799 kind of love you have. You can certainly convince 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:14.679 me by the things that you do, maybe your conduct 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:17.379 and the things you know. But God knows the difference 00:11:17.379 --> 00:11:22.779 between the two and others. But God wants us 00:11:22.779 --> 00:11:26.610 to be all in. He wants it to be sold out to him 00:11:26.610 --> 00:11:31.289 in love. For humanity almost can mean the difference 00:11:31.289 --> 00:11:36.110 between heaven and hell. Praise God. I'm sorry, 00:11:36.250 --> 00:11:39.110 but there's no in -between. You know, we don't 00:11:39.110 --> 00:11:41.610 believe in purgatory. We don't believe in the 00:11:41.610 --> 00:11:44.269 middle section there, you know, in the cheaper 00:11:44.269 --> 00:11:46.669 seats in heaven. There's not going to be no cheap 00:11:46.669 --> 00:11:51.269 seats in heaven. It's all or nothing. I mean, 00:11:51.289 --> 00:11:53.610 there's not going to be some streets that are 00:11:53.610 --> 00:11:55.429 going to be pure gold and some that are going 00:11:55.429 --> 00:11:58.929 to be make -believe gold or fool's gold. It's 00:11:58.929 --> 00:12:01.629 all or nothing, man. God's in it. We're in it. 00:12:01.669 --> 00:12:04.450 Amen. And that's the thing that we're not. There's 00:12:04.450 --> 00:12:09.289 nothing in between. Almost is not going to get 00:12:09.289 --> 00:12:14.350 it. Praise God. Amen. So I know that Pastor Jacob 00:12:14.350 --> 00:12:17.669 has recently and currently preaching on a series. 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:22.820 a title called, and I've been really listening 00:12:22.820 --> 00:12:25.820 in, and when I'm not here, I still listen in 00:12:25.820 --> 00:12:29.620 afterwards. I do the Monday morning quarterback 00:12:29.620 --> 00:12:32.840 thing, you know, and I watch it, you know, on 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:37.259 YouTube and whatnot, but the biblical examples 00:12:37.259 --> 00:12:42.279 associated with almost encourages believers to 00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:47.889 be fully committed to their faith. And when you're 00:12:47.889 --> 00:12:53.429 called, you cannot tell God, I almost responded. 00:12:54.730 --> 00:12:59.950 I almost did it, Lord. But I called you to be 00:12:59.950 --> 00:13:03.669 fishers of men. I almost did it, Lord. I decided 00:13:03.669 --> 00:13:08.789 to chase jackrabbits instead. Do some other thing. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:12.059 No, the Lord called you to be a fisher of men. 00:13:12.539 --> 00:13:15.879 Don't tell him almost. Amen. I don't know what 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:20.720 Peter would have done, amen, if the Lord asked 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:23.980 him for his boat to preach from. And Peter says, 00:13:24.100 --> 00:13:27.980 man, I almost loaned it to you. I was almost 00:13:27.980 --> 00:13:32.220 there to lend you my boat. No, Peter, give me 00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:36.960 your boat. I need your boat. And God is not interested 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:41.080 in almost. That is an extreme distance from him, 00:13:41.100 --> 00:13:44.840 praise God. But the biblical examples associated 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:48.659 with almost encourage believers to fully commit 00:13:48.659 --> 00:13:53.080 to their faith, to be prepared, amen, and to 00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:57.299 act decisively in their spiritual journey. Under 00:13:57.299 --> 00:14:01.879 the leadership of Joshua, the Israel nation crossed 00:14:01.879 --> 00:14:06.659 over the Jordan River. To possess their inheritance. 00:14:06.940 --> 00:14:11.480 You all know the story. The promised land. After 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:15.820 some initial conquest of the major fortified 00:14:15.820 --> 00:14:20.960 cities, the nation became comfortable with what 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:25.799 they had gained and possessed. And this is typical 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:31.320 not only in the natural of Israel, but it's typical 00:14:31.320 --> 00:14:36.350 even in our lives today. It seems like, you know, 00:14:36.370 --> 00:14:39.250 an alcoholic, if he's delivered from alcohol, 00:14:39.350 --> 00:14:43.629 he's happy, you know. But that doesn't mean that 00:14:43.629 --> 00:14:46.789 he's fully converted, amen, because you can be, 00:14:46.909 --> 00:14:49.970 well, not delivered, but you can stop drinking 00:14:49.970 --> 00:14:54.250 by just going to AA meetings, you know. And there 00:14:54.250 --> 00:14:56.450 you have to admit you're an alcoholic every time. 00:14:56.830 --> 00:14:59.830 You know, I'm an alcoholic. Well, praise God, 00:14:59.970 --> 00:15:02.850 that's not deliverance. Praise God, that's almost. 00:15:04.750 --> 00:15:07.789 You hear what I'm saying? I've been to one of 00:15:07.789 --> 00:15:10.929 those meetings. It says all those people confessing 00:15:10.929 --> 00:15:13.509 that they're alcoholics and I'm an alcoholic 00:15:13.509 --> 00:15:15.590 and I this and then they give their testimony 00:15:15.590 --> 00:15:19.850 and I haven't drank in three weeks. It says really 00:15:19.850 --> 00:15:22.750 you're not delivered. You're almost delivered 00:15:22.750 --> 00:15:26.009 but that doesn't even count. Praise God. And 00:15:26.009 --> 00:15:28.470 he's still an alcoholic and they admit they're 00:15:28.470 --> 00:15:31.970 alcoholics but when God doesn't work in our lives. 00:15:32.620 --> 00:15:35.120 I said, when God does something in our lives, 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:40.740 he doesn't almost heal you. He never almost delivers 00:15:40.740 --> 00:15:45.379 you. He delivers you. He sets you free. And if 00:15:45.379 --> 00:15:48.860 the son sets you free, you're free indeed. It 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:53.559 doesn't say almost free. No, God delivers. You 00:15:53.559 --> 00:15:55.960 see, God knows the difference between almost 00:15:55.960 --> 00:16:00.509 and altogether. Amen. And so the Apostle Paul 00:16:00.509 --> 00:16:03.990 was trying to communicate this. But listen, the 00:16:03.990 --> 00:16:09.509 Israelites, they embraced their new life. They 00:16:09.509 --> 00:16:13.830 were no longer slaves to the Egyptians. Well, 00:16:13.929 --> 00:16:17.129 they're not filling the tail of the brick, which 00:16:17.129 --> 00:16:24.870 was just building up Egypt. But silently and 00:16:24.870 --> 00:16:31.539 slowly. And because of their slavery mentality, 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:37.360 they became slaves to the giants that were within 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:46.639 them themselves. You see, way back in 1994, there 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:50.840 was a book written by George Barna. You might 00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:53.100 remember this. Maybe you weren't even born then. 00:16:53.139 --> 00:16:56.980 I don't know. But he wrote a book, and I bought 00:16:56.980 --> 00:17:00.970 it right away. And the book was called The Frog 00:17:00.970 --> 00:17:05.309 in the Kettle. That illustrated a fable about 00:17:05.309 --> 00:17:10.009 a frog that is placed into a room temperature 00:17:10.009 --> 00:17:17.410 water that is slowly heated. And it's slowly 00:17:17.410 --> 00:17:23.170 heating till it gets to a boil. The frog failed 00:17:23.170 --> 00:17:27.349 to notice the danger until it was too late to 00:17:27.349 --> 00:17:34.029 escape. If you drop a frog into boiling water, 00:17:34.269 --> 00:17:40.349 it instantly will jump out and save itself. If 00:17:40.349 --> 00:17:45.049 you put it in room temperature water and heat 00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:49.509 it gradually, the frog stays comfortable and 00:17:49.509 --> 00:17:53.490 begins to adapt to the rising temperatures and 00:17:53.490 --> 00:17:57.490 boils to death. Wow, because they don't know 00:17:57.490 --> 00:18:01.109 the difference. It's gradual. The metaphor of 00:18:01.109 --> 00:18:05.369 this tale is a warning about gradual change. 00:18:05.890 --> 00:18:12.309 It illustrates how humans often ignore slow -moving 00:18:12.309 --> 00:18:17.930 threats like toxic jobs, a bad relationship, 00:18:18.490 --> 00:18:23.450 or a disregard of spiritual awareness until the 00:18:23.450 --> 00:18:28.589 situation turns catastrophic and, in most cases, 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:33.400 spiritual deaths. I had a friend many, many years 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:39.799 ago that was blessed to get a few restaurants. 00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:43.900 You know, he began to own some restaurants and 00:18:43.900 --> 00:18:48.839 I noticed that He was very committed to the church. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:52.000 Wow, he was just like always in church. And he 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:54.579 was a leader even for the youth leader for some 00:18:54.579 --> 00:18:57.680 time. And he was doing quite well. Got a family. 00:18:57.799 --> 00:19:00.220 And he got these restaurants. And he lived up 00:19:00.220 --> 00:19:02.019 on the hill. And he would invite us up there 00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:04.380 to his house. Oh, my God. He had a beautiful 00:19:04.380 --> 00:19:07.700 home on the hillside. Really, really nice. And 00:19:07.700 --> 00:19:10.119 then I noticed something that he started missing 00:19:10.119 --> 00:19:13.619 a Sunday. Only because he had to work that Sunday. 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.359 You know what I'm saying? And then I noticed 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:24.500 that he was gone another Sunday. You know, and 00:19:24.500 --> 00:19:29.640 before you know it, it got worse and worse. Next 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:32.680 thing you know, he had a problem in his marriage, 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:38.000 and his wife ended up divorcing him. Then he 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:41.180 had a problem with his kids, and his kids went 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:46.230 all into drugs, full -blown addicts. He lost 00:19:46.230 --> 00:19:50.490 everything. Then he lost his restaurants. Then 00:19:50.490 --> 00:19:53.910 he lost his health. He got cancer. Then he died 00:19:53.910 --> 00:20:00.769 young. Hello? And I look back, and at one time 00:20:00.769 --> 00:20:04.690 I admired him. I said, gee, I wish I could do 00:20:04.690 --> 00:20:08.869 that. Because he was very well off. He had the 00:20:08.869 --> 00:20:13.269 best of everything. And I looked up to him that 00:20:13.269 --> 00:20:18.680 way. But when I seen the tip of the plateau and 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:22.240 how it began to come down the other side, slipping 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:25.299 down the other end, I said, I don't want nothing 00:20:25.299 --> 00:20:29.880 to do with that. And before I knew it, I was 00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:35.140 at his funeral. And unfortunately, what happens 00:20:35.140 --> 00:20:39.079 in these kind of situations is that it slowly 00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:44.450 happens to us. It slowly begins to move in our 00:20:44.450 --> 00:20:48.910 lives. We're like that frog in the kettle. We 00:20:48.910 --> 00:20:53.829 compromise and we begin to become complacent 00:20:53.829 --> 00:20:58.369 about who we are in God. There's an old war tactic 00:20:58.369 --> 00:21:04.289 that has been in practice for centuries. It's 00:21:04.289 --> 00:21:10.309 called insurgence. It is an enemy -tacting... 00:21:10.910 --> 00:21:15.829 of blending in. They wear civilian clothes instead 00:21:15.829 --> 00:21:20.569 of uniforms. They avoid large -scale battles, 00:21:21.329 --> 00:21:26.369 opting out instead to blend in with the intention 00:21:26.369 --> 00:21:30.250 of gradually expanding their territorial control. 00:21:31.750 --> 00:21:37.130 They hide within and pretend to be non -threatening, 00:21:37.309 --> 00:21:43.720 but If not detected, they will overcome and control 00:21:43.720 --> 00:21:50.660 just as the frog in the kettle. Eventually, the 00:21:50.660 --> 00:21:55.759 situation turned into spiritual death. Now, I'm 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:59.619 saying all of that because sometimes we don't 00:21:59.619 --> 00:22:04.680 know that we have... compromise our altogether 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:09.579 commitment to God and begin to mess around and 00:22:09.579 --> 00:22:13.660 flirt with almost. Oh, you didn't hear me yet. 00:22:13.819 --> 00:22:18.660 Begin to flirt with almost. Well, I got away 00:22:18.660 --> 00:22:23.980 with it this time. And so the temptation is to 00:22:23.980 --> 00:22:29.119 repeat. And what happens then is that your altogether 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:33.880 commitment becomes into, it converts into an 00:22:33.880 --> 00:22:40.420 almost committed. Hello. You don't know it. God 00:22:40.420 --> 00:22:44.880 knows it. Praise God. You should know it as you 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:48.740 should be awakened to it today. Now let me just 00:22:48.740 --> 00:22:52.440 give you, continue with the example of the Israelites. 00:22:53.059 --> 00:22:58.250 As for Israel. When they crossed over into the 00:22:58.250 --> 00:23:02.240 promises of God in the promised land. They did 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:04.700 take some cities. They conquered cities. They 00:23:04.700 --> 00:23:09.420 conquered strong wall fortified cities. And they 00:23:09.420 --> 00:23:12.079 really did a number. You know the miraculous 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:15.480 things that they did. You know with the cities 00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:17.460 that surrounded them. They were fortified like 00:23:17.460 --> 00:23:20.279 Jericho and others. And they did great things. 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:25.339 But then Israel decided to set up. Joshua decided 00:23:25.339 --> 00:23:28.140 to set up the tabernacle. They selected Shiloh. 00:23:28.700 --> 00:23:31.559 Which is very significant and prophetic. but 00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:34.400 I just want to use this as an example of how 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:38.000 they set up the tabernacle, and there was about 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:40.799 seven tribes that decided to hang out there in 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:46.440 Shiloh. It was a secure, safe, and peaceful, 00:23:46.619 --> 00:23:50.319 and even religiously comfortable environment. 00:23:52.099 --> 00:23:55.200 Couldn't get any better than this, they were 00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:59.000 saying. For someone coming out of the desert 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:02.599 and their forefathers out of bondage in Egypt, 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:06.940 man, this was heaven on earth. And they were 00:24:06.940 --> 00:24:10.900 glad to have been delivered. Just like a lot 00:24:10.900 --> 00:24:13.839 of folks today in Christianity. They're glad 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:18.539 to be delivered. But they made a huge error. 00:24:19.500 --> 00:24:25.660 They did not fully possess. Now, you can win 00:24:25.660 --> 00:24:31.700 and possess, but the key is occupy. They did 00:24:31.700 --> 00:24:36.319 not occupy their promised land. Now, there's 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:39.859 a lot of folks that feel delivered, and they 00:24:39.859 --> 00:24:42.579 feel like they possess some things, but they're 00:24:42.579 --> 00:24:46.269 not occupied. They leave that out, praise God, 00:24:46.430 --> 00:24:50.230 and it's almost like a child, you know, I don't 00:24:50.230 --> 00:24:52.829 know, have you ever had a child that, let me 00:24:52.829 --> 00:24:56.509 tell you what frustrates God. What frustrates 00:24:56.509 --> 00:25:00.690 God is when we act like little kids, right? And 00:25:00.690 --> 00:25:04.750 what do little kids do? You give them a gift, 00:25:04.910 --> 00:25:10.730 an expensive gift, they open the box, and what 00:25:10.730 --> 00:25:16.299 do they play with? The box. don't even play with 00:25:16.299 --> 00:25:19.039 the toy. Come on, play with the toy. Look at 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:22.720 zoom, zoom. They throw it aside. They want the 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:30.920 box. The Lord gave a gift to Israel and instead 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:34.220 of taking the gift that he gave them, they were 00:25:34.220 --> 00:25:38.420 playing with the box at Shiloh. Oh, you didn't 00:25:38.420 --> 00:25:41.059 hear me yet. They're playing with the boxes. 00:25:42.119 --> 00:25:45.519 I only delivered the gift in the box and you're 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:48.079 paying more attention to the box than what I 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:53.119 gave you. Praise God. And so this was what happened 00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:57.299 to the Israelites. While they were enjoying life 00:25:57.299 --> 00:26:01.740 in the comforts of freedom, they assumed all 00:26:01.740 --> 00:26:06.359 would be well with the remainder of the promised 00:26:06.359 --> 00:26:14.210 land. But the Canaanites, they still held claim 00:26:14.210 --> 00:26:18.930 to certain territories because the Israelites 00:26:18.930 --> 00:26:27.430 did not fully possess and occupy the land. Not 00:26:27.430 --> 00:26:33.529 until an 85 -year -old man stood up by the name 00:26:33.529 --> 00:26:38.150 of Caleb, who was one of the original spies that 00:26:38.150 --> 00:26:41.839 was sent by Moses. to survey the promised land 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:47.000 about 45 years before, he was not going to stay 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:51.619 in Shiloh another day because he says, I have 00:26:51.619 --> 00:26:57.319 an inheritance. I have an inheritance. And he 00:26:57.319 --> 00:27:02.619 spoke to Joshua and said, give me this mountain. 00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:07.559 He was not going to settle for a Shiloh. He was 00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:09.759 not going to settle for a religious activity. 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:12.220 He was not going to settle for the fact that 00:27:12.220 --> 00:27:14.799 they just came out of the desert and everybody's, 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:16.839 you know, hooting and hollering and having praise 00:27:16.839 --> 00:27:21.460 breaks on Shiloh. Not about a praise break at 00:27:21.460 --> 00:27:25.119 Shiloh. Are you delivered or not? Not only are 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:27.559 you delivered, but there's promises that the 00:27:27.559 --> 00:27:33.680 Lord has given you and me today. But we should 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:36.599 not just take the promises. We need to occupy 00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:41.740 the promises. Praise the Lord. How would you 00:27:41.740 --> 00:27:45.259 feel if the Lord saved and delivered you and 00:27:45.259 --> 00:27:47.799 just said, I'm just going to let you touch. I'm 00:27:47.799 --> 00:27:51.660 just going to let you feel my spirit for a Sunday 00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:57.319 every three months. So, hey, Lord, hey, you said 00:27:57.319 --> 00:28:00.819 you would dwell in us. You see, because that's 00:28:00.819 --> 00:28:04.920 the way God works. He likes to dwell in what 00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:09.319 he purchased. He likes to dwell, take ownership 00:28:09.319 --> 00:28:13.839 of what he delivered. This is why I thank God 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:18.279 for over close to 60 years. He has never left 00:28:18.279 --> 00:28:22.200 me one day. He filled me with his spirit and 00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:30.299 he never took it back. He dwells in me. There's 00:28:30.299 --> 00:28:37.119 a big difference. And so Caleb, he said, okay, 00:28:37.180 --> 00:28:40.740 that's enough. You folks can stay up there and 00:28:40.740 --> 00:28:42.779 have praise breaks and everything on Shiloh. 00:28:42.859 --> 00:28:52.140 But man, I've got to move on and repossess what 00:28:52.140 --> 00:28:55.440 God has given me. Praise the Lord. Somebody say 00:28:55.440 --> 00:29:01.319 repossess it. And it was Hebron. Caleb had to. 00:29:01.740 --> 00:29:07.720 first take back Hebron that was now occupied 00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:15.220 by giants. And you know, when Caleb and Joshua 00:29:15.220 --> 00:29:19.039 first went over to spy the land, there was only, 00:29:19.059 --> 00:29:21.640 out of the 12, only two came back with good news. 00:29:21.859 --> 00:29:25.420 You know where they brought the big grapes and 00:29:25.420 --> 00:29:28.799 all that stuff from? They brought it from Hebron, 00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:33.529 where Hebron was. I'm going to tell you something 00:29:33.529 --> 00:29:39.349 here. Look at the typology here. When you conquer 00:29:39.349 --> 00:29:43.170 big giants, there's going to be big blessings. 00:29:44.490 --> 00:29:50.589 Hello? You know, and that because Caleb never 00:29:50.589 --> 00:29:55.009 forgot there's giants there. But look at the 00:29:55.009 --> 00:30:02.119 fruit. It's huge. So I want to encourage somebody 00:30:02.119 --> 00:30:05.920 here today that if you can conquer that giant, 00:30:06.220 --> 00:30:11.819 you're going to have great blessings. Humongous 00:30:11.819 --> 00:30:17.920 blessings. So, but he trusted in the Lord's promises, 00:30:18.059 --> 00:30:20.980 Caleb did, and was determined to take back and 00:30:20.980 --> 00:30:23.900 reclaim what belonged to him. So in Joshua 14, 00:30:24.119 --> 00:30:27.980 12, if you can put that up, it says, Now therefore, 00:30:28.809 --> 00:30:32.990 He says, give me this mountain of which the Lord 00:30:32.990 --> 00:30:41.269 spoke in that day. For you heard in that day 00:30:41.269 --> 00:30:46.630 how the Anakim were there. And that the cities 00:30:46.630 --> 00:30:52.750 were great and fortified. It may be that the 00:30:52.750 --> 00:30:57.049 Lord will be with me. And I shall be able to 00:30:57.049 --> 00:31:02.849 drive them out as the Lord said. You know, this 00:31:02.849 --> 00:31:08.250 is interesting here because when he says it may 00:31:08.250 --> 00:31:15.390 be, it may be, it might, maybe. I would rather, 00:31:15.470 --> 00:31:23.160 I would rather bank on that may be God. Than 00:31:23.160 --> 00:31:25.640 to bank on every guarantee that the world gives 00:31:25.640 --> 00:31:31.599 me. It doesn't matter to me. You're going to 00:31:31.599 --> 00:31:32.880 get this. You're going to get these bonuses. 00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:35.740 You're going to get all of these things. But 00:31:35.740 --> 00:31:42.420 you would rather go with maybe God? I would rather 00:31:42.420 --> 00:31:47.619 depend and trust on that maybe God will do something. 00:31:47.839 --> 00:31:52.799 Than to trust on something else. God's maybe 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:59.619 is bigger than your almost. Are you hearing what 00:31:59.619 --> 00:32:03.819 I'm saying? Oh, hallelujah. Some trust in chariots, 00:32:03.819 --> 00:32:06.140 some trust in all things, but I'd rather trust 00:32:06.140 --> 00:32:09.539 in the Lord God. So what did that require? It 00:32:09.539 --> 00:32:15.559 required belief and trust from Caleb. There was 00:32:15.559 --> 00:32:20.490 no guarantee. But he says, maybe, it may be that 00:32:20.490 --> 00:32:24.130 the Lord will be with me. There's no contract. 00:32:25.450 --> 00:32:28.849 There's no guarantee. But there was a promise. 00:32:29.529 --> 00:32:33.089 And he was holding on to that promise. And I 00:32:33.089 --> 00:32:37.609 shall be able. See, the end of that script is 00:32:37.609 --> 00:32:39.369 interesting to me. I mean, I can be on that for 00:32:39.369 --> 00:32:45.200 a month. It says, that may be. Right at the next 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:48.500 little phrase after the comment says, shall be. 00:32:50.359 --> 00:32:54.960 He converts the maybe in God into a shall be. 00:32:55.619 --> 00:32:59.299 Just a few words later. So that maybe in God 00:32:59.299 --> 00:33:02.900 is a lot bigger than whatever this world could 00:33:02.900 --> 00:33:06.039 put up against you. Because if God be with you, 00:33:06.140 --> 00:33:09.240 what can be against you? Let me tell you, that 00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:15.200 maybe can become a shall be. I shall drive them 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:20.000 out. This passage of scripture is so powerful 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.720 in its illustration on how we can overcome fears 00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:30.019 and overcome whatever is holding us hostage in 00:33:30.019 --> 00:33:36.960 the condition of almost. Romans 8 .31 says, What 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:41.640 then shall we say to these things if God is for 00:33:41.640 --> 00:33:45.859 us? Who can be against us? I mean, Romans wasn't 00:33:45.859 --> 00:33:49.980 written. Caleb didn't read Romans. He didn't 00:33:49.980 --> 00:33:53.480 read them, but he knew God. He knew that God's 00:33:53.480 --> 00:33:58.519 maybe. I mean, I don't know if you've ever trusted 00:33:58.519 --> 00:34:01.059 in somebody so much, and when they told you maybe, 00:34:01.240 --> 00:34:05.299 it was almost like it's done. You know what I'm 00:34:05.299 --> 00:34:08.760 saying? I mean, you just have that feeling. It's 00:34:08.760 --> 00:34:10.820 done. It's done. I got it. I got it. It's in 00:34:10.820 --> 00:34:13.559 the bag. Because you have that much trust. And 00:34:13.559 --> 00:34:16.960 that's the kind of trust that Caleb had in his 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:24.780 God. Israel had almost succeeded in possessing 00:34:24.780 --> 00:34:28.219 their promised inheritance. But they settled 00:34:28.219 --> 00:34:32.599 in Shiloh, which is altogether not a bad place. 00:34:33.480 --> 00:34:37.579 It was a place of peace, a place of rest. But 00:34:37.579 --> 00:34:43.460 it was not the time for rest. It was a time to 00:34:43.460 --> 00:34:47.559 claim the inheritance. There's folks that are 00:34:47.559 --> 00:34:50.920 just waiting on the sidelines, you know, to see 00:34:50.920 --> 00:34:53.880 what happens. You know, there are those that, 00:34:53.900 --> 00:34:55.480 you know, like they say, I don't remember the 00:34:55.480 --> 00:34:58.500 complete saying, but there are those that watch, 00:34:58.900 --> 00:35:01.179 and then there's other ones that wonder what 00:35:01.179 --> 00:35:03.460 happened, and then there's those that make it 00:35:03.460 --> 00:35:06.619 happen. Caleb was one of those that just made 00:35:06.619 --> 00:35:09.440 it happen. He didn't wait for everybody else 00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:13.019 to agree with him. He made up his own mind. So 00:35:13.019 --> 00:35:18.619 this is all about us. The giants we face, such 00:35:18.619 --> 00:35:27.380 as the sons of Anak, are within. They have an 00:35:27.380 --> 00:35:32.280 intimidating, oversized impression and influence. 00:35:33.449 --> 00:35:37.349 There are oversized problems that are in our 00:35:37.349 --> 00:35:42.050 lives such as fear, addictions, doubts, insecurities, 00:35:42.130 --> 00:35:46.630 and even generational strongholds. Well, my granddaddy 00:35:46.630 --> 00:35:48.650 was a poor man. I guess I'm going to be a poor 00:35:48.650 --> 00:35:51.829 man. You know, we just hang on to those things. 00:35:51.929 --> 00:35:55.349 I was abused and I'm going to be abused all my 00:35:55.349 --> 00:35:57.769 life. And, you know, we just hang on to those 00:35:57.769 --> 00:36:01.769 things of the past and bring them into our prison. 00:36:02.440 --> 00:36:06.900 They can hold you hostage to the belief or feeling 00:36:06.900 --> 00:36:12.440 that I can't. I'm stuck. I'm here at Shiloh. 00:36:12.579 --> 00:36:14.739 What am I going to do? Well, let's just have 00:36:14.739 --> 00:36:16.900 another praise break, man. Could you make it 00:36:16.900 --> 00:36:19.679 a little faster now? You know, because I really 00:36:19.679 --> 00:36:21.739 got to forget about my problems. So the faster 00:36:21.739 --> 00:36:26.039 I go, the more I forget. That's what some folks 00:36:26.039 --> 00:36:30.579 think, right? Amen. But Caleb's relentless faith. 00:36:30.989 --> 00:36:35.210 Moved him into saying, I don't want to live with 00:36:35.210 --> 00:36:39.969 almost having conquered. I want to altogether 00:36:39.969 --> 00:36:45.670 take what belongs to me. I'm not going to settle 00:36:45.670 --> 00:36:49.210 for anything less. Nobody is going to go to a 00:36:49.210 --> 00:36:53.650 store and pay something with a $20 bill and it 00:36:53.650 --> 00:37:01.840 costs you $10 and accept $7 change. He said, 00:37:01.880 --> 00:37:05.960 hey, hey, hey, you owe me three bucks. You want 00:37:05.960 --> 00:37:09.039 the whole thing. You're not going to almost say, 00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:11.380 well, that's okay. You almost gave me the right 00:37:11.380 --> 00:37:13.280 change. Wait a minute. You're going to give me 00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:16.820 the right change. Nobody's going to accept you 00:37:16.820 --> 00:37:19.360 almost. You're close. You're like 20 bucks off. 00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:22.619 You're close. No, no, no. Give it to me, man. 00:37:23.139 --> 00:37:25.380 And you'll stay there and you'll argue with that 00:37:25.380 --> 00:37:28.840 person all day long, you know, for 10 cents or 00:37:28.840 --> 00:37:31.329 whatever it is. But you know, you're going to 00:37:31.329 --> 00:37:33.269 fight for your money because why? It belongs 00:37:33.269 --> 00:37:37.250 to you. That's mine. You're keeping what's mine. 00:37:37.489 --> 00:37:40.190 When somebody's got what you've got, what belongs 00:37:40.190 --> 00:37:43.769 to you, you're going to fight for it, man. Hello, 00:37:43.809 --> 00:37:48.630 somebody. Caleb declared, I may be, it may be 00:37:48.630 --> 00:37:52.670 that the Lord will be with me. God has given 00:37:52.670 --> 00:37:57.269 us a spiritual inheritance, but we must actively 00:37:57.269 --> 00:38:04.199 drive out. the giants in our lives, in our hearts, 00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:09.280 to live the fullness of God's promise. There 00:38:09.280 --> 00:38:12.760 are people that are living their lives, amen, 00:38:12.820 --> 00:38:16.440 at Shiloh alone. And that was never meant for 00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:19.480 you. It was not meant, yes, I know the tabernacle 00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:23.300 is there, and everything is there, but that wasn't 00:38:23.300 --> 00:38:27.000 the promise God gave you. Let me quickly identify. 00:38:28.460 --> 00:38:35.460 The giants that Caleb faced. In Joshua 15, 14 00:38:35.460 --> 00:38:40.659 it says, Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak. 00:38:41.079 --> 00:38:47.619 From there, there was Shashe, Ahaman, and Talmai. 00:38:48.659 --> 00:38:53.820 The children of Anak. Let me first talk about 00:38:53.820 --> 00:38:59.440 Shashe. We're talking about the giants that Caleb 00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:03.559 had to face here. And we're going to try to break 00:39:03.559 --> 00:39:06.059 it down for you so you can understand that sometimes, 00:39:06.460 --> 00:39:10.699 you know, like this one, it's not going to be, 00:39:10.699 --> 00:39:13.099 you know, colorful. It's going to be black and 00:39:13.099 --> 00:39:22.699 white. Okay? Now, first, Sashay. His name means 00:39:22.699 --> 00:39:34.329 whitish. And what does that mean? Almost white. 00:39:35.869 --> 00:39:39.269 Right? That's what his name means. Look it up. 00:39:39.670 --> 00:39:42.949 Whitish. Where in the world did somebody get 00:39:42.949 --> 00:39:48.510 that? But I love it. Because this is what the 00:39:48.510 --> 00:39:53.889 first giant he had to face. He had to fight a 00:39:53.889 --> 00:40:01.440 giant that was all... white, but not white, right? 00:40:01.719 --> 00:40:07.480 While pure white reflects Christ's transforming 00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:12.500 power and glory, such as in Isaiah 118, where 00:40:12.500 --> 00:40:15.519 it says, though your sins be as scarlet, they 00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:21.139 shall be as white as snow. You see, when God 00:40:21.139 --> 00:40:25.380 does something in our lives, he doesn't make 00:40:25.380 --> 00:40:32.679 you whitish. Hello? He makes you pure white. 00:40:33.539 --> 00:40:37.440 There's not a white more whiter than that. They 00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:41.099 say, whitish? No, man. Like, man, this is white. 00:40:42.280 --> 00:40:46.500 It's not compromised. Well, it's almost white, 00:40:46.760 --> 00:40:49.980 you know. No, no, no, okay, almost white. You 00:40:49.980 --> 00:40:55.019 owe me 20 bucks. Get almost. Give it to me. And 00:40:55.019 --> 00:40:58.380 this is what it is. So it's not almost white. 00:40:58.739 --> 00:41:01.400 A little whitish. Brother, how do you feel inside? 00:41:01.579 --> 00:41:05.239 A little whitish. I thought that you were like 00:41:05.239 --> 00:41:08.019 pure white. Yeah, he washed me, but I'm still 00:41:08.019 --> 00:41:12.539 a little whitish. Brother, that don't make no 00:41:12.539 --> 00:41:17.699 sense to me. And that is the way the devil works 00:41:17.699 --> 00:41:20.159 with it. Ah, you're saved. You're delivered, 00:41:20.320 --> 00:41:23.210 but... Yeah, a little swig once in a while, you're 00:41:23.210 --> 00:41:25.409 going to hurt nobody. Besides, Jesus drank wine. 00:41:27.650 --> 00:41:29.909 Yeah, but you were an alcoholic, bro. You used 00:41:29.909 --> 00:41:36.449 to drink John Daniels. No, hey, you know, a little 00:41:36.449 --> 00:41:39.170 white, what's going to hurt? A little white. 00:41:39.650 --> 00:41:44.650 It doesn't say that he's going to make us whitish, 00:41:44.690 --> 00:41:48.090 which is almost white. It's altogether white. 00:41:49.039 --> 00:41:53.019 Somebody say praise the Lord for white. Whitish 00:41:53.019 --> 00:41:59.780 appears clean. But it actually covers an underlying 00:41:59.780 --> 00:42:07.500 decay. Let me explain that to you. Caleb had 00:42:07.500 --> 00:42:13.920 to evict everything that was whitish. Whitish 00:42:13.920 --> 00:42:17.199 spots. And this is, you can look it up in Levitical 00:42:17.199 --> 00:42:22.429 laws. Whitish spots on the body in the Old Testament 00:42:22.429 --> 00:42:26.690 needed to be examined by the priest. Because 00:42:26.690 --> 00:42:32.690 in most cases, whitish spots meant that there 00:42:32.690 --> 00:42:38.030 was hidden leprosy beneath. Oh, it's getting 00:42:38.030 --> 00:42:43.789 ugly now. Yes, it is. Because God doesn't, he 00:42:43.789 --> 00:42:47.670 didn't go to Calvary. Give his life and blood 00:42:47.670 --> 00:42:52.510 to wash you to be whitish. He gave everything 00:42:52.510 --> 00:42:57.070 so that you can be pure white as snow. And so 00:42:57.070 --> 00:43:02.010 what does that mean? That means all the sin that 00:43:02.010 --> 00:43:10.929 is within you needs to get purged out. Now, the 00:43:10.929 --> 00:43:13.909 baptism is powerful, but continued living is 00:43:13.909 --> 00:43:20.019 up to you. And sometimes we do, we take Hebron 00:43:20.019 --> 00:43:22.920 and then we go to Shiloh and have religion for 00:43:22.920 --> 00:43:26.239 a while. We have a few praise breaks and we're 00:43:26.239 --> 00:43:28.739 running around with everybody else, you know, 00:43:28.780 --> 00:43:33.000 high -fiving and everything on Shiloh while you're 00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:40.800 leaving Hebron for the giants to play with. Help 00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:44.400 me somebody right here because the reality is 00:43:44.400 --> 00:43:52.099 this. God washed you pure and white. We got to 00:43:52.099 --> 00:43:55.699 maintain that pure and white. By the blood of 00:43:55.699 --> 00:43:58.360 Jesus, you apply it to yourself every day. In 00:43:58.360 --> 00:44:01.920 the name of Jesus, get out of my mind. Get out 00:44:01.920 --> 00:44:05.320 of my life. Get out of my house. You get out 00:44:05.320 --> 00:44:08.760 of my life. In the name of Jesus, I'm pure and 00:44:08.760 --> 00:44:12.260 white. I don't have whitish, you know, covering. 00:44:12.380 --> 00:44:16.679 I have pure white. God. washed me completely 00:44:16.679 --> 00:44:21.780 and wholly. Somebody say praise the Lord. I know 00:44:21.780 --> 00:44:23.599 I can stay there for longer but we're going to 00:44:23.599 --> 00:44:27.380 go to the next giant. Then there was the giant 00:44:27.380 --> 00:44:34.940 Ahaman whose name means very subtle and entrenched 00:44:34.940 --> 00:44:40.099 intellectual reasoning. What does that mean? 00:44:42.599 --> 00:44:50.719 Almost truth. Almost truth. It's almost truth. 00:44:50.820 --> 00:44:53.780 Man, that sounds good. Wow, the way he put it. 00:44:53.880 --> 00:44:56.579 Yeah, the way they explained it. Wow, it's almost. 00:44:57.039 --> 00:45:00.159 It's almost there. We are almost the owners of 00:45:00.159 --> 00:45:06.619 the house. Almost. Come on, brother. Show me 00:45:06.619 --> 00:45:09.019 the deed. Well, you know, you're almost. No, 00:45:09.039 --> 00:45:12.559 no, no. Show me the deed. I want to see it. I 00:45:12.559 --> 00:45:20.059 want to see my name on it. Almost truth. Listen, 00:45:20.059 --> 00:45:24.559 this is intellect, intellect, head knowledge. 00:45:25.480 --> 00:45:31.000 Science and intellect is their basis of foundation 00:45:31.000 --> 00:45:37.480 of belief. You got to prove it to them over and 00:45:37.480 --> 00:45:43.059 over and over. This is a very powerful and deceptive 00:45:43.059 --> 00:45:48.530 condition within any person. that usually includes 00:45:48.530 --> 00:45:57.210 to gain, grain the truth or manipulate the truth 00:45:57.210 --> 00:46:02.690 and transforms it into what we call half -truths 00:46:02.690 --> 00:46:06.389 that are difficult to identify because they are 00:46:06.389 --> 00:46:14.969 almost truth. Well, you know, I run into, I had... 00:46:15.159 --> 00:46:17.940 Man, I'm telling you, I had some real debates 00:46:17.940 --> 00:46:22.639 at work years ago. When I worked at IBM, I had 00:46:22.639 --> 00:46:25.559 some serious debates with this man that came 00:46:25.559 --> 00:46:29.079 in and wanted to sell me a book. It was written 00:46:29.079 --> 00:46:33.900 by George Gentile, actually, but we called him 00:46:33.900 --> 00:46:38.000 Gentile. And his church was right there on McLaughlin 00:46:38.000 --> 00:46:41.699 Street in San Jose. And I said, so what's all 00:46:41.699 --> 00:46:44.059 this about? He says, oh, man, we're winning all 00:46:44.059 --> 00:46:46.980 the apostolics over. I says, winning them over? 00:46:47.079 --> 00:46:50.840 Like, what do you mean? He says, well, you know, 00:46:50.900 --> 00:46:54.119 their heir is the oneness of God. I says, you 00:46:54.119 --> 00:46:57.179 got to be kidding me right now. I said, get your 00:46:57.179 --> 00:46:59.199 Bible, sir. He says, well, I'm going to get this 00:46:59.199 --> 00:47:00.860 book. I says, no, I don't want your book. I want 00:47:00.860 --> 00:47:04.889 your Bible. Get your Bible. Let's talk about 00:47:04.889 --> 00:47:07.429 this. Well, I said, and then he says, well, do 00:47:07.429 --> 00:47:13.170 you know about the triune God? I said, the triune 00:47:13.170 --> 00:47:18.869 God. I said, never heard of it. And he says, 00:47:18.949 --> 00:47:22.469 well, it goes like this. We baptize in the name 00:47:22.469 --> 00:47:30.110 of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, well, okay, 00:47:30.530 --> 00:47:36.900 it kind of sounds right. Kind of truth. Almost 00:47:36.900 --> 00:47:40.300 truth. He says, we baptize in the name of the 00:47:40.300 --> 00:47:44.199 Lord Jesus Christ. And I says, okay, explain 00:47:44.199 --> 00:47:49.940 it to me. He says, Lord is the Father. Okay. 00:47:51.059 --> 00:47:56.619 Jesus is the Son. And Christ is the Holy Ghost. 00:47:58.079 --> 00:48:00.539 I says, that's a trinity. He says, yeah, that's 00:48:00.539 --> 00:48:02.739 what I said. He says, it's triune God. I says, 00:48:02.820 --> 00:48:09.780 get out of my office. It was packaged differently. 00:48:10.980 --> 00:48:12.559 And there's a lot of that in the world. That's 00:48:12.559 --> 00:48:15.199 just one that I had to deal with. And boy, let 00:48:15.199 --> 00:48:17.300 me tell you, I had to fight for that because 00:48:17.300 --> 00:48:19.920 he was trying to steal some new converts that 00:48:19.920 --> 00:48:22.639 I had just won to the Lord. And he was walking 00:48:22.639 --> 00:48:25.139 around. I rebuked him all day long, every day. 00:48:25.179 --> 00:48:29.969 Get out of here. I rebuked. Go, man. It was almost 00:48:29.969 --> 00:48:33.610 truth, but we baptize in the name of the Lord 00:48:33.610 --> 00:48:36.469 Jesus Christ. But it was a triune God, Trinity, 00:48:36.710 --> 00:48:40.289 disguised. And you know, this is what happened 00:48:40.289 --> 00:48:43.730 when you start messing around with the man's 00:48:43.730 --> 00:48:46.909 intellect. They come up with all of these ideas. 00:48:47.329 --> 00:48:50.170 Praise the Lord, somebody. They live under the 00:48:50.170 --> 00:48:54.750 radar of biblical truth that justifies human 00:48:54.750 --> 00:49:00.679 worldly reasoning. It hides in the closet of 00:49:00.679 --> 00:49:08.179 God's love. Justifies with human or worldly reasoning. 00:49:08.519 --> 00:49:11.699 It says it hides in the closet of God's love 00:49:11.699 --> 00:49:15.559 and forgets that Jesus said, if you love me, 00:49:15.659 --> 00:49:21.260 keep my commandments. Well, God is love. Really? 00:49:21.929 --> 00:49:24.889 Yeah, I know God. We agree. High five. We agree 00:49:24.889 --> 00:49:28.809 on that God is love. But don't stop there. He 00:49:28.809 --> 00:49:31.849 said, keep his commandments. Well, he loves me. 00:49:31.889 --> 00:49:33.809 No, no, no, no, no, no. Let's back up here. Let's 00:49:33.809 --> 00:49:35.889 read scripture. It says, keep my commandments. 00:49:35.909 --> 00:49:37.869 If you love me, you're going to keep my commandments. 00:49:38.050 --> 00:49:42.489 Well, God is love. Oh, get away from here. You 00:49:42.489 --> 00:49:46.349 have half truth. I believe God is love. But he 00:49:46.349 --> 00:49:49.289 also says there are commandments we need to follow. 00:49:50.090 --> 00:49:53.250 Praise the Lord. And it didn't say there are 00:49:53.250 --> 00:49:57.650 suggestions we need to follow. He's not, you 00:49:57.650 --> 00:50:00.590 know, suggesting that we, you know, do this, 00:50:00.650 --> 00:50:03.969 live in holiness and all that. He's not suggesting. 00:50:04.230 --> 00:50:08.869 He's commanding it. Because he loves us and we 00:50:08.869 --> 00:50:12.489 love him. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Amen. 00:50:12.510 --> 00:50:14.590 Tell somebody he could stay there longer, but 00:50:14.590 --> 00:50:22.050 he's moving on. Then there's the giant. whose 00:50:22.050 --> 00:50:26.030 name means furrows. You want to put that up the 00:50:26.030 --> 00:50:31.150 next one? I think it's the next one. Furrows. 00:50:32.610 --> 00:50:38.030 Whose name means furrows. Ingrained habits rooted 00:50:38.030 --> 00:50:44.750 in sense reasoning. Almost convincing. Praise 00:50:44.750 --> 00:50:49.400 the Lord, somebody. The furrows. Are not what 00:50:49.400 --> 00:50:52.599 many people think agricultural furls, you know, 00:50:52.619 --> 00:50:55.460 how they make the furls in agriculture and they're 00:50:55.460 --> 00:50:57.420 going to plant seed. No, no, no. It's talking 00:50:57.420 --> 00:51:00.579 about a different kind of a furl. There's all 00:51:00.579 --> 00:51:05.159 kinds of furls. But theologians lean towards 00:51:05.159 --> 00:51:12.019 this. Furls are an entrenchment and are identified 00:51:12.019 --> 00:51:18.039 as thought habits. that are ingrained in a person's 00:51:18.039 --> 00:51:22.280 conscience that can affect their future thought 00:51:22.280 --> 00:51:29.260 process. Stay with me. It symbolizes deeply ingrained 00:51:29.260 --> 00:51:35.019 stubborn thought habits rooted in sense reasoning, 00:51:35.539 --> 00:51:40.280 relying solely on the physical five senses rather 00:51:40.280 --> 00:51:44.239 than spiritual truths that are almost convincing. 00:51:46.440 --> 00:51:52.539 He's the Lord. Human or common sense. Anybody 00:51:52.539 --> 00:51:55.420 ever hear common sense? That's common sense. 00:51:57.159 --> 00:52:00.260 Common sense reasoning. Where does common sense 00:52:00.260 --> 00:52:06.099 come from? It is relying strictly on physical 00:52:06.099 --> 00:52:13.480 human perspectives. Proverbs 3 and 5 says, trust 00:52:13.480 --> 00:52:17.360 in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not 00:52:17.360 --> 00:52:21.380 unto your own understanding. Praise the Lord 00:52:21.380 --> 00:52:24.920 somebody. I don't know if you got any giants 00:52:24.920 --> 00:52:29.239 trying to get in. But you got to keep these giants 00:52:29.239 --> 00:52:33.699 out. And that's what Caleb had to do. In order 00:52:33.699 --> 00:52:41.139 for God to completely occupy. You know why? Because 00:52:41.139 --> 00:52:46.389 God doesn't share a temple. You didn't hear that. 00:52:47.349 --> 00:52:51.510 God doesn't share a temple. He's not going to 00:52:51.510 --> 00:52:54.210 sit, hey, how you doing over there? Well, I'm 00:52:54.210 --> 00:52:57.349 Demon Jack over here. Who are you? I'm Jesus 00:52:57.349 --> 00:53:02.989 Christ. Oh, okay. Welcome to the house. What 00:53:02.989 --> 00:53:04.969 are you here for? I'm here to disrupt things, 00:53:05.030 --> 00:53:07.789 destroy, mess things up, mess around with his 00:53:07.789 --> 00:53:10.710 head, you know. Oh, really? He's not going to 00:53:10.710 --> 00:53:13.190 sit there and have conversations with demons. 00:53:14.159 --> 00:53:18.280 And giants. That is up to you to decide. You're 00:53:18.280 --> 00:53:20.860 going to get rid of that guy. You're going to 00:53:20.860 --> 00:53:22.800 get rid of that giant. You're not going to start 00:53:22.800 --> 00:53:28.440 depending. I don't care how smart you are. You're 00:53:28.440 --> 00:53:31.099 not going to get through the pearly gates with 00:53:31.099 --> 00:53:35.139 your intelligence. You're not going to get through 00:53:35.139 --> 00:53:39.119 the pearly gates with common sense. You're going 00:53:39.119 --> 00:53:43.530 to be totally... forgiven, washed white as snow, 00:53:43.710 --> 00:53:48.170 and he has to dwell inside of you, and he will 00:53:48.170 --> 00:53:56.909 not share residences with other giants. What 00:53:56.909 --> 00:54:00.909 we learn from this in our own personal spiritual 00:54:00.909 --> 00:54:06.130 battles that sometimes ground that we conquered 00:54:06.130 --> 00:54:10.010 early in our Christian lives. is lost because 00:54:10.010 --> 00:54:15.829 we failed to occupy it fully. And we must regain 00:54:15.829 --> 00:54:21.510 it again. The battle is not over until we are 00:54:21.510 --> 00:54:25.510 living in the promises of God and our lives are 00:54:25.510 --> 00:54:31.050 fully occupied by His presence and full submission 00:54:31.050 --> 00:54:37.869 to His will. Let's not surrender to an almost... 00:54:38.380 --> 00:54:44.579 about our Christian life and future, but live 00:54:44.579 --> 00:54:49.119 in the promises God has ordained for every one 00:54:49.119 --> 00:54:57.840 of us. Stand with me. Caleb was determined to 00:54:57.840 --> 00:55:04.079 take back what was promised to him and was determined 00:55:04.079 --> 00:55:08.400 to defeat and conquer. what stood in his way 00:55:08.400 --> 00:55:13.119 we need to take this same approach because god 00:55:13.119 --> 00:55:18.900 did not save us so that we could survive but 00:55:18.900 --> 00:55:22.440 so that we can thrive and this is important for 00:55:22.440 --> 00:55:27.099 us today let's take this approach i you know 00:55:27.099 --> 00:55:33.679 i'm not i'm not directing myself to any one purpose 00:55:33.679 --> 00:55:37.829 i person i'm directing myself to what can happen 00:55:37.829 --> 00:55:41.110 and how you can have victory. If there are certain 00:55:41.110 --> 00:55:45.550 things in your life that you know have just been, 00:55:45.769 --> 00:55:49.630 you know, at the forefront of everything you 00:55:49.630 --> 00:55:53.409 want to do, they come up, fear, you know, you 00:55:53.409 --> 00:55:56.869 can't get over that. Well, in the name of Jesus, 00:55:57.090 --> 00:56:00.590 you need to decide that God's going to occupy 00:56:00.590 --> 00:56:04.159 your life completely. You're not going to just 00:56:04.159 --> 00:56:07.900 be, you know, almost white. You're going to be 00:56:07.900 --> 00:56:11.659 white. The devil hates white. He hates white. 00:56:11.880 --> 00:56:15.920 This is why he's come up with anti -whites, you 00:56:15.920 --> 00:56:18.880 know, and other things that look white, but they're 00:56:18.880 --> 00:56:21.780 not white. And, you know, they sing the same 00:56:21.780 --> 00:56:24.980 songs, you know. Their temples are bigger. They 00:56:24.980 --> 00:56:28.559 got bigger, you know, platforms. And they sing 00:56:28.559 --> 00:56:32.510 some of the songs we sing. But that... That doesn't 00:56:32.510 --> 00:56:36.769 mean that it's correct. God helped them so they 00:56:36.769 --> 00:56:40.989 can see, that others can see, that they need 00:56:40.989 --> 00:56:44.409 to allow God to dwell in them, just like us need 00:56:44.409 --> 00:56:48.070 God to dwell in us completely. And we need God 00:56:48.070 --> 00:56:53.409 not only to possess us and win us, but we need 00:56:53.409 --> 00:56:57.949 him to occupy us with his presence. Can you lift 00:56:57.949 --> 00:57:00.699 up your hands? Are they where you are? Amen. 00:57:00.719 --> 00:57:03.739 Lift up your hands. Let's go before the Lord 00:57:03.739 --> 00:57:07.639 right now and just, whatever it is in your life, 00:57:07.800 --> 00:57:09.820 I know that it's not going to happen right here, 00:57:09.840 --> 00:57:12.639 right now, but possibly, you know, through this 00:57:12.639 --> 00:57:16.619 week, you can meditate on this thought and ask 00:57:16.619 --> 00:57:20.500 God to help you to identify those things within 00:57:20.500 --> 00:57:24.719 you that could potentially be one of those giants. 00:57:24.880 --> 00:57:27.780 Maybe you're depending too much on your intellect. 00:57:27.860 --> 00:57:30.860 Maybe you're... depending too much on common 00:57:30.860 --> 00:57:34.400 sense and maybe you're just thinking it's okay 00:57:34.400 --> 00:57:39.199 but no ask god to to give you a pure mind a pure 00:57:39.199 --> 00:57:43.059 conscience and so that you can make good decisions 00:57:43.059 --> 00:57:48.380 so that you cannot live a life of almost but 00:57:48.380 --> 00:57:51.940 you can live as the apostle paul said all together 00:57:53.700 --> 00:57:58.400 altogether, amen, totally in God and God in you. 00:57:58.519 --> 00:58:01.780 In the name of Jesus, I declare this upon the 00:58:01.780 --> 00:58:05.760 church today, Lord. I pray that every one of 00:58:05.760 --> 00:58:09.239 us here today, we could continually do a self 00:58:09.239 --> 00:58:12.429 -assessment of our lives. And be able, Lord, 00:58:12.489 --> 00:58:15.789 to see if there be any wicked thing from within, 00:58:15.969 --> 00:58:19.750 Lord, that we can identify it and evict it out 00:58:19.750 --> 00:58:23.210 of our lives. To get it out, Lord, of our mind, 00:58:23.230 --> 00:58:27.730 our conscience. Lord God, in Jesus' name, I pray 00:58:27.730 --> 00:58:32.599 that we can live. every day victoriously, knowing 00:58:32.599 --> 00:58:37.079 that you truly occupy our lives and that we are 00:58:37.079 --> 00:58:41.320 yours, God, and you are ours. In the name of 00:58:41.320 --> 00:58:45.539 Jesus, I pray and declare it. Amen. God bless 00:58:45.539 --> 00:58:47.460 you for your time.